The United Sates has operated under two constitutions. The Articles of Confederation was effective in 1781, and The Constitution which replaced the Articles in 1788. These two documents have much in common, but they differ more than they do resemble each other. The primary difference was the Articles of Confederation was an agreement establishing the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states. Otherwise, the US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America, also a constitution embodying the relationship of the federal government with the states of America and the citizens of the US. Factually, the confederation type of constitution proved to be a very fragile one for the US, this being the reason for
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Show MoreThe Constitution was a document that was written by our Founding Fathers. It defines what our government is and what it does. It is the basic blueprint for all the laws in the country and it provides the three branches of the U.S government the power it needs to rule this nation effectively. But the Constitution wasn’t always how it is now, it used to be called the Articles of Confederation and it had many problems that are no longer present in our current Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation are very similar to the US Constitution; I always thought they were drastically different. Some of the wording of the Articles of Confederation was complicated – not so much the vocabulary, but the way certain phrases were worded. The Constitution is also much more detailed than the Articles of Confederation, but I guess that was necessary because the national government needed more power and the states needed to be more unified. I know that separation of powers exists to make all branches of government relatively equal, but it seems like Congress has a lot more power than the other branches or at least Congress is mentioned more times than the other branches.
The United States Constitution and the Articles of Confederation had multiple differences that separated them. However, there are a few similarities that tie them together. To begin with, the US Constitution and the Articles of Confederation are both federal documents. They both had the power to establish an army and declare war on other countries. They could also borrow coins and set up a federal post office.
The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are similar in addressing the problems that were present at that moment. However, there is a significant number of differences. One of the main differences between the Articles and the Constitution is the way in which they set up the legislature. The Articles of Confederation are established as a unicameral legislature referring to the congress. The Constitution on the other hand, is established as a bicameral legislature with an upper and lower house, senate, and a House of Representatives.
Constitution gave the federal government the accurate control trade and commerce at the international levels as well as the interstate level. The Articles of Confederation was adopted in 1781 and the conscripting of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 this was one of the flaw, rebellion, and disorder period. Under the Articles of Confederation there was no provisions made for them to enforce laws or interpret them. The Articles of Confederation was lastly ratified in March 1787 by the thirteen states. The Articles of Confederation provided the Congress with authorizing to declare war, create peace, coin money, assign officers for army, control the post office, and convert agreements with Indian clans.
We all know that American is the gradated country in the would and we also agree that there were numerous contrasts between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. However, the Articles of confederation were affirmed by congress on 1777, but their formal adoption was not achieved until 1781. It was an unassuming endeavor by another nation to unite itself and structure a national government. The Articles set up a Confederation that gave the majority of the ability to the states. Numerous issues emerged thus another Constitution was composed in 1787 in independence Hall.
In 1776 the Continental Congress drafted our country’s first Constitution, The Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation lasted only 8 years for many reasons. The Articles gave most of the power to the states. The national government has very little control and help only three responsibilities: monitor common defense, general welfare and securing liberties. The states held the power and this led to a very weak government.
The late 1700s was a fresh start for The United States. After gaining independence from Britain in 1776, the newly independent colony needed unity in the face of a revolutionary war. This unity came in the form of The Articles of Confederation, which was a proto-constitution which held the different states together during the war. It was soon realized that the Articles raised more questions and created more problems than it solved- in the words of Alexander Hamilton “[The Articles of Confederation] were neither fit for war nor peace.”
The Articles of Confederation, which were proposed and produced by John Dickinson and accepted as a governmental foundation plan by the Continental Congress in 1781 became Congress’ first effort to unify the newly founded country in economic and political strength through the use of a universal constitution for all of the states that stated the country’s liberty and gave certain rights to each individual state. During the early post-revolution era in America, states were advised by Congress to begin establishing state governments with written constitutions as a foundational structure in which there were almost no regulations or political structure. Many states began their constitutions by stating their “unalienable rights” which usually included the freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition, the right to bear arms, and the right to equal protection under state
Before the Constitution, there was the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was a weak plan for the country. The central government wasn’t allowed to tax the people, which caused them to be in serious debt. Majority of the power went to the states, causing the central government to be useless. So the framers met up in Philadelphia of 1787 to revise the Articles.
It was November 15th of 1777 that our Nation’s founding fathers created the Articles of Confederation, a now worn down sheet of paper made up of the first Government’s functions, priorities to put first to ensure complete independence in a haze of new found chaos. A group of men including Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and John Dickinson, would help contribute to the writing process of this document, recreating multiple amounts of drafts before March 1st of 1781, where it was then declared official. Although important in the teachings of our history, the reign of the Articles lasted just 7 years when in September, 1788, due to an abundance of issues, the aforementioned was replaced by what we know as the U.S. Constitution. There were several problems that accommodated in making the Articles of Confederation a poor form of government, such as having an absence of a Court System, no Treaties, no Laws, and to sum it all, having just about nothing that would help a nation grow and move forward in the right direction. However, after listing more than two examples of a poor governments symptoms, only two seem more important to me…”No power to enforce laws”, and “No
The Articles of Confederation were a document seen as the “first” constitution of the United States. This document granted the new national government power to control the military, declare war, and create treaties between the states. However, the Articles had holes in it considering the government did not have the power to tax, create laws without at least nine states’ approval, or change the Articles of Confederation without a unanimous vote. This means that the country soon fell into debt and petty arguments between state, the new government had no control. It was time for a change.
The most important difference between these documents was that the Articles of Confederation gave very little power to a central government and the Constitution created a strong central government. The Article of Confederation was written to unite states after the American Revolution. People had the fear of the government having too much power. This document established
Articles of Confederation vs. U.S. Constitution The Articles of the Confederation and the U.S. Constitution are two articles that where written and accepted by the United States as a foundation for their new government. They are both very important documents that have similarities and differences. Some of the main things the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution have in common is that they addressed the needs of its constituencies.
The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. Such flaws would eventually lead to the Constitution and the repeal of the articles, for the Constitution was a measure to fix the problems of the articles with a stronger government that allowed them to impose taxes and and implement new laws for a more effective government.